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Initiative is the ability to start an activity, plan, or task. Learning how to take initiative and get things done is an important executive function skill for children. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed five activities to accompany the...

Impulse control is an executive functioning skill that allows you think before you act and to prioritize long-term success over short-term gains. When you have good self-control, you are able to resist doing things that may be harmful to yourself or to...

Problem solving involves many other executive functioning behaviors, including reasoning, attention, planning, initiation, working memory, and self-monitoring. Teach your students problem solving skills with these activities that accompany the...

Sometimes making a choice is easy. Other times, it is quite hard. This is especially true when every option is less than ideal or simply stinks. Even when children think there are no good choices, they skill have to make a decision. Award-winning author...

The more people focus on the positive things happening in their lives, the more zest they will have. All students should be encouraged to find ways to look at their world through a positive lens. In this activity from ZEST: Live It! Activity Guide,...

Students will practice gathering information and persevering on the task of writing a survival guide. This activity will allow students to understand that many famous people displayed grit when they continued to try very hard even after experiencing...

There are several items that exist today because they were discovered by mistake or by accident. As a class or in small groups, think of several ways of how an item that was invented by mistake has proven to be beneficial in our daily lives. This...

The purpose of this activity is for students to recognize and identify how to alter one's environment to improve a situation.  Students will review qualities that some people have that make it easier for them to overcome obstacles or challenges, and...

Students will stay on task while trying to move a heavy object. They will have the opportunity to keep trying very hard to complete the task even after experiencing failure, which in turn, students will learn to practice self-control. Enjoy the book GRIT...

Students will practice zest by showing enthusiasm, optimism, and pride in their accomplishments when creating and sharing their “Zest Books.” This activity will help to identify what zest is and is not. Read the book ZEST: Live...

Students will display effort as they perform tasks and will gain an understanding of the advantages of delaying gratification. Students will also display grit by continuing to work at accomplishing tasks, even after experiencing failure. Enjoy the book...

From Tamara Zentic's, 13 & Counting: Rescue Me?, this activity will help students to improve their ability to define problems by asking for clarification when needed in an appropriate way. Students will practice self-control by paying attention,...

The goal of this activity is to show how zest and enthusiasm are decreased by our lack of organization and the ability to maintain a sense of order. Energy is wasted when we spend our valuable time searching for items that we need. Frustration mounts and...

Students will display zest by showing enthusiasm and optimism while finding various “wonders” in nature. They will practice keeping property in its place and utilize strategies to self-correct their behavior if needed. The activity...

Combine a history lesson of the Olympic torch with the social skill of "rewarding yourself" for students in grades 5 through 10. The purpose of this activity is that students will learn to adopt and practice a new good habit that displays grit,...

Students will understand the importance of completing their work even when it becomes difficult, they will also learn to identify how zest can influence others. For this exercise, from ZEST: Live It! Activity Guide, candy will represent zest and...